Best PlacesWest New York, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West New York, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
West New York ranks 1,411th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in West New York
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
West New York's strengths and weaknesses
Where West New York ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of cities
- TransitBetter than 99% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of cities
Where West New York ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of cities
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in West New York
A household needs to earn about $146,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West New York home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $76,458, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses West New York's effective rate of 1.84%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in West New York
West New York's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for West New York.
Who works in West New York, and how
Work in West New York centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 36%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 50%
Life in West New York
West New York has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of cities. The coast is about 20 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of West New York and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West New York, month by month
West New York sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 35° | 28° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 44° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 69° | 60° | 52° |
Flying in and out of West New York
Laguardia sits about 7 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 16.3 million passengers in 2025, with 118 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around West New York
Schools across West New York average a D, better than 6% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Public School Number TwoD · 18% proficient
- Public School Number OneD · 18% proficient
- Robert Menendez Elementary SchoolD · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- West New York Middle SchoolD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Memorial High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West New York school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West New York measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare West New York against the other 2,097 cities.
Who West New York suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in West New York
Is West New York a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West New York ranks 1,411th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on walkability, transit, and cell coverage, and lowest on civic engagement and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West New York expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $490,738. The overall cost of living runs about 16% above the national average. Set against a $76,458 median income, cost of living beats 9% of cities.
Is West New York safe?
West New York is safer than 20% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $272 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in West New York?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 28. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 39% of cities.
Is West New York good for families?
Schools beat 6% of cities, crime safety beats 20%, and childcare runs $1,520 a month.
Compare West New York with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West New York. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West New York represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
West New York detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West New York: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West New York: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West New York: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West New York: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West New York detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.